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A recycledproduct will rarely be exactly the same as its original composition. For example, recycled paper contains ink residue and shorter fibres than virgin paper (made from wood pulp) and so may be less desirable for some uses. This 'inferiority' of some recycled materials is known as down-cycling, as a result of which, over time, some materials exhaust their recyclability and are no longer usable.

In some cases, however, materials can be up-cycled which means they are made into something more valuable than the original product (for example, using old bottles as lamps or an old suitcase as a medicine cabinet). The most common types of recyclable materials are:

Paper is sorted on the basis of its type, weight, use, colour and whether it has been previously recycled. Recycled paper results in significant net savings in terms of water and energy used, as well as the emission of pollutants.

Although recycling as a widespread concept has arisen only relatively recently with the new sense of environmental conscientiousness, it has been present in various forms for thousands of years. Recycling was a practical necessity prior to the Industrial age due to the fact that goods were not readily available at such cheap prices.

The Industrial Age fostered a new era of mass production which gave rise to a culture of disposability since goods could be produced and purchased cheaply, making more economic sense to throw them away rather than recycle them.

With the economic depressions of the 1930s and 40s, citizens of developed nations began to rely on recycling techniques as new goods were suddenly unaffordable. During the two world wars, many materials were rationed and recycled. In the post-war boom however, recycling slipped from widespread publicconsciousness, until the expansion of the environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s when recycling became a mainstream idea once again. During the late-20th century and early 21st century, as the threats of climate change have become more apparent, recyclingprogrammes have become established and accepted as a central part of society.

Raw materials such as trees, rocks, minerals and oil are 'harvested' and as a result, reserves of such materials are in decline. Mining and other extraction operations continue to have a negative impact on large areas of many countries around the world, such as deforestation.